


Stronger than Yesterday

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Seven H/C Bingo Card [32]
Category: Sky High (2005)
Genre: Coming Out, Multi, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 21:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8548969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: Will goes quiet and nods, his jaw going a little tense even as he had agrees. "If that's all it takes," he says when Warren pushes, "then it's worth it."
Warren, Will, and Layla let the important people in their lives know about their relationship.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Written for H/C Bingo Round 7.

After Warren tries to leave the first time, he has the impulse more often than he wants to admit, but he's never acted on it. He trusts Will and Layla--sometimes more than he trusts himself--and in this he will stand at their side until they ask him to leave.

Still, he puts his foot down and insists that all three of them tell their parents if they really are serious about being together for the long haul. Will goes quiet and nods, his jaw going a little tense even as he had agrees. "If that's all it takes," he says when Warren pushes, "then it's worth it."

They tell Warren's mother first, less than a month after he'd tried to leave. She smiles and kisses Warren's cheek and Layla's forehead, sweeps Will up into her arms in a hug that's he returns tenfold, stopping just shy of cracking her ribs. As she settles him down, she looks Will in the eyes and says gently, "You make him happy, and that's all I've ever wanted for him." She smiles briefly at Layla and then turns back to Warren. "That's all I've ever wanted for you, baby." It's what Warren had hoped for, he supposes, but it's more than he'd expected. If he leaves that evening with a little more spring in his step, neither Will nor Layla comment on it.

They tell Layla's parents a few weeks later, and though Layla gets a bit of a dressing down for not telling them sooner, Warren himself gets welcomed into the fold with a warmth he's really only ever known from his mother, Will, and Layla. It eases the nerves in his stomach, and lets him hope that maybe, just maybe, this won't be as bad as he'd expected.

Will's tense as they make their way up to the Stronghold home to let Will's parents in on the news a week after that. Layla has Will's hand in hers, and Warren is always within arm's reach. Warren watches as Will puts iron in his spine and knocks on the door for what his parents think is a normal dinner.

It isn't until halfway through the night, when Steve asks Warren if he has a girlfriend, that things start to go south. Warren glances at Will, trying to take his cues from him, and when Will nods once, tight and uncertain, Warren turns back to Steve. "I am seeing someone, actually. Two people, in fact."

Josie sets down her fork, and Warren thinks she may have already started to catch on. "That's different," she says with a smile. "Are you happy?"

"Very," Warren asserts.

Josie nods, her eyes cutting toward Will. "That's good. That's the most important part of a relationship."

Will sits up a little straighter next to Layla and nods at his mom.

"Anyone we know?" Steve asks, and Warren looks at Will again, letting him take the reins.

"Yeah, Dad." Will says, eyes focused on Warren as he speaks. "It's me and Layla."

Steve frowns, turning to Will. "Sorry?"

"We're together, Dad. All three of us."

Steve stares at Will for a long time. "But… but I thought you and Layla…"

"And Layla and I are still together. That hasn't changed, Dad. But we're with Warren too. We're happy, Dad. Really, really happy."

"But Will…." Steve shakes his head. "People are going to talk. You know they're going to--"

"Let them, Dad," Will says, cutting Steve off with a sharpness in his voice that startles even Warren. "Let them say what they want. It's not worth losing the people that have made me happier than I ever thought possible."

"Yeah, but Will--"

"Don't, Dad. Can't you just be happy for me?"

"I just don't want it to affect the work, Will!"

"And it hasn't, Dad. Not for the last three years, and not for the rest of our careers. We're good at what we do, Dad, and we're going to keep being good at it for a long time. What we do in our own home doesn't affect how well we can do our jobs. So save it, okay?"

"Okay, but what about--"

"Dad. Please. Can't you just be happy for us?"

Steve stares at Will for a long time while everyone else in the room holds their breath. There's a war going on behind Steve's eyes, and Warren can only hope that the right side wins out. Because Warren would walk away--from this table and from this relationship--if he thought that was what Will wanted, but they'd talked about this last night. About the possibility of rejection, and Will had simply asked that they follow his lead, and that, above all, they go on loving him. Because Will isn't his father, and that is what Will wanted them to hang onto.

Finally Steve sighs, slipping his glasses off and cleaning them on his shirt. He seems to be taking a moment to find his words, and when he puts them back on, he meets Will's gaze head on. "I can try, Will. I can't promise you any more than that. But I can try."

Will nods. "That's all I ask, Dad."

The rest of the dinner is tense and stilted. Josie and Layla making most of the conversation, though Will does his best not to fall silent. Steve doesn't say much, a counterpoint to his normally ever-present need to speak, but when he sees them to the door, he asks to speak to Will privately for a moment. Layla and Warren wait at the end of the front walk, leaning against Will's car. Neither of them takes the other's hand, though Warren's pretty sure they both want to. For his part, he just can't seem to find the bravery to.

Whatever it is that Steve says leaves Will leaves him tense around the eyes, and Warren nods at Layla to take the front seat instead of piling in the back with him like she normally does. It's telling that she doesn't even pretend to argue.

The tightness in Will's eyes and posture take ages to fade, and in that time neither Warren nor Layla brings up the fourth and final step in their plan. In the end, it's Will that brings it up, sprawled out in their bed after a long battle against a former classmate turned supervillain that afternoon.

"We should tell the guys."

Layla blinks down at him, looking surprised. "Yeah? You're ready for that?"

"Hell yeah," Will says, voice only a touch shy of full certainty. "I'm done waiting in limbo. Let's just. Let's get it over with."

"Will," Layla says, voice stern, "that's not how it should feel."

Will sighs, swiping a hand over his face. "Yeah. Yeah, I know. I didn't… I mean, I meant it? But not the way it sounded. More like the waiting is exhausting and I just need to know what they're gonna say."

Warren reaches out, taking Will's hand in his. "They're gonna be fine, Will. They're always going to care about you. About all of us."

Will tips his head back to smile up at Warren. "Yeah, I know. I know."

When they tell Magenta, Zach, and Ethan, their friends don't react at first. All three of them keep staring at Layla--the designated spokesperson--like they're waiting for her to say something else.

"Did… did you guys not hear me?"

Magenta seems to be the first to catch on, leaning back on their side of the booth they've filled at the Paper Lantern and fussing with her manicure. "That's all? We figured Will finally asked you two to marry him or something."

"Yeah, or that one of them got you pregnant, Layla," Zach says before Ethan can elbow him in the side and get him to stop talking.

"Wait," Will says, sounding confused, "so you're saying you guys all knew already?"

"Well, Magenta was the one that figured it out," Ethan says, "but once we knew what to look for, it was pretty obvious."

Will, Warren, and Layla all stare at their friends for a long moment before leaning back into one another in the booth, sitting closer than they had before.

Magenta rolls her eyes at the three of them while Ethan and Zach just grin. "Hey, thanks for finally telling us, guys," Zach says, his eyes bright. "We really appreciate it."

"Yeah," Ethan says, his smile wide. "Good to know we're still a part of the team, even if we're not, y'know… part of the team."

Magenta rolls her eyes again. "Just make sure you let us know when the wedding is, okay?"

Even after all this time, Warren isn't sure what to make of the three of them, but instead of trying to figure it out, he just grins and leans back, taking both Layla and Will under an arm. "Don't get your hopes up, Magenta," he says, grinning at both of his lovers. "Not sure I'm the marrying type."

Will bites his lip and Layla grins, elbowing Warren in the side. "We'll just have to see about that you big lug."

Warren doesn't argue. He knows better by now than to fight a losing battle.

**Author's Note:**

> [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


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